{"id":13413,"date":"2011-12-23T10:41:10","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T06:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=13413"},"modified":"2011-12-23T10:46:48","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T06:46:48","slug":"saudi-arabias-looming-energy-crisis-its-an-international-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-business\/middle-east-economics-analysis\/saudi-arabias-looming-energy-crisis-its-an-international-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia’s Looming Energy Crisis… Fuelling International Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Chatham House<\/a>, the UK\u2019s top think-tank, has a new report saying that Saudi domestic demand for energy (primarily in the form of electricity) threatens Saudi Arabia\u2019s place in the world oil market. The\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0(59-page PDF) says that demand is outstripping the Kingdom\u2019s ability to produce enough oil and natural gas AND to continue its programs of social welfare at the same time. The report says that there are some steps the Saudis can take, such as introducing conservation measures, that could postpone a crisis, but that the crisis will hit.<\/div>\n
\n

Below is an abstract of the article\u2026<\/p>\n

Burning Oil to Keep Cool: The Hidden Energy Crisis in Saudi Arabia<\/a>
\nGlada Lahn and Paul Stevens, December 2011<\/p>\n

    \n
      \u00bb Domestic energy demand growth in Saudi Arabia is cause for international concern. If it continues at the current rate, it could jeopardize the country\u2019s ability to stabilize world oil markets.<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00bb Given Saudi Arabia\u2019s level of dependence on oil revenues, excessive consumption will cause economic and social pressures long before oil exports end \u2013 within a decade if nothing changes.<\/p>\n

      \u00bb Current policies are not enough. Planned additions of renewable power supply would help maintain the fiscal balance for an additional two to three years; given the lead times nuclear power would have little or no impact.<\/p>\n

      \u00bb Huge economic, social and environmental gains from energy conservation are possible in Saudi Arabia but the long period of low prices and the bureaucratic structure of the state present several challenges to implementing effective pricing policy and regulatory measures.<\/p>\n

      \u00bb Fear of confronting these challenges has deterred meaningful government action in the past. However, some immediate, targeted investments could produce effective results even in the absence of price reforms.<\/p>\n

      \u00bb Raising prices is politically difficult but international experience can help in preparing society through a range of efficiency, educational and infrastructure adaptation measures to smooth the transition. This must be done within a package of measures that increase private-sector employment for Saudi nationals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      I think the authors overestimate the time it would require Saudi Arabia to construct and put on line nuclear reactors.<\/p>\n

      The Kingdom does not have a massive regime of regulation, of environmental impact statements and the like, or of worry about finding funding and insurance for a nuclear power plant. In fact, I think the Saudis could, starting from scratch, construct a reactor and have it producing electricity within three years\u2026 if it chose to do so.<\/p>\n

      Saudi Arabia also doesn\u2019t have to undertake extensive R&D efforts: it can buy a nuclear power plant almost off-the-shelf. Further, I think GCC efforts to establish a regional power grid will buy time, if not an outright solution, until nuclear power generation becomes standard. Saudi solar power investments will help, but they will not replace other power sources until solar technology becomes much more efficient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      CROSSROADS ARABIA: Demand is outstripping the ability to produce enough oil and natural gas AND continue programs of welfare at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":13416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,56,10],"tags":[2228,18342,5227,6040,406,8415,4824,18275,6038,18337],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}